Wednesday Weigh-In 20120627

As I read Zoobiquity, I'm finding lots of cool new ideas. One is that our intestines change their rate of absorption depending on environmental cues, such as temperature, light exposure, etc. It could explain why some folks can ingest shovelfuls of food and stay thin, while others can gain weight with just a few cookies. Eventually I'll put up a quote.

Waist = 37.25"
Height = 5' 9"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Tanita Scale with Body Fat monitor
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

The Truth About Grains

All grains contain a compound called phytic acid, which can block absorption of zinc, calcium, iron, magnesium, and other minerals and lead to mineral deficiencies.  Fermenting grains by soaking them before cooking neutralizes phytic acid, rendering the grain far more nutritious.

from "Wild Fermentation," by Sandor Ellix Katz

Wednesday Weigh-In 20120620

School's out for our daughter, so I thought I'd get up a little later than usual (6:30am instead of 5:30am). This might let me have more energy throughout the day.

Waist = 37.25"
Height = 5' 9"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Tanita Scale with Body Fat monitor
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

Wednesday Weigh-In 20120613

My wife is sick, and the dog training is not going smoothly. So I'm very worn out right now.

Waist = 37.25"
Height = 5' 9"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Tanita Scale with Body Fat monitor
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

Notes From "In Defense of Food"

Here's the list of Web Resources from "In Defense of Food : An Eater's Manifesto," by Michael Pollan.  They are focused on helping consumers find locally grown or produced food.

Center for Informed Food Choices
Eat Local Challenge
Eat Well
Eat Wild
Food Routes
Local Harvest
Weston A. Price Foundation

...a science journalist named Gary Taubes ... for the last decade has been blowing the whistle on the science behind the low-fat campaign.  In a devastating series of articles and an important new book called Good Calories, Bad Calories, Taubes has all but demolished the whole lipid hypothesis, demonstrating just how little scientific backing it had from the very beginning.

Indeed.  Wind the tape back to 1976, and you find plenty of reasons to doubt the lipid hypothesis even then.  Some of these reasons were circumstantial, but nevertheless compelling.  For instance, during the decades of the twentieth century when rates of heart disease were rising in America, Americans were actually reducing their intake of animal fats (in the form of lard and tallow).  In place of those fats, they consumed substantially more vegetable oils, especially in the form of margarine, sales of which outpaced butter for the first time in 1957.  Between the end of World War II and 1976 ... per capita consumption of animal fats from all sources dropped from eighty-four pounds to seventy-one, while fats from seed oils approximately doubled.  Americans appeared to be moving in the direction of a "prudent diet" and yet, paradoxically, having more heart attacks on it, not fewer.

Here's an online article that discusses oils further.

Wednesday Weigh-In 20120607

Trying to get over a cold that I've had since Friday.

Waist = 37.5"
Height = 5' 9"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Tanita Scale with Body Fat monitor
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.